Cloudwatching
by niki-the-polkadot
Summary: ‘Oi you, yes you with the pineapple for hair,' she yells as he turns to look at her. In which Sakura who has always thought of Shikamaru as her best friend's lazyass boyfriend is forced to rethink after she gets to know him better.


**A/N**

**Greetings,**

**So another day another fic. This time it's a friendship one with Sakura and Shikamaru because I think that's cute and yeaa**

**Enjoy.**

**P.S Consider the disclaimer well and truly applied.  
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_Why are the clouds running around?_

_Did they lose their address?_

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'Forehead!'

'What is it now Ino-pig?'

'Shikamaru that annoying man is avoiding me again.'

'Oh please not _again_.'

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C l o u d w a t c h i n g

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_Friends forever and ever?_

_And ever._

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Sakura couldn't believe it. It was one of her rare days off from the hospital and she was planning on picking up that delectable white chocolate mud cake from the bakery and curling up in her window seat (which she had paid good money for thankyou very much yet somehow never got to use) with a good book. But nooo, Ino had roped her into finding her boytoy once again.

The civilians looked at the pink-haired girl who was angrily stomping her way towards her apartment and nervously crossed to the other side of the street praying for a safe trip home. The kuniochi was usually a kind, well-mannered person who was always willing to lend a hand or stop for a chat but they knew better than to reason with her on one of her bad days. The only two people who could calm her down were away on a mission and the last person who had tried had disappeared for a month and hadn't begun talking until a month after he had managed to find his way back to the village.

Sakura continued on her way, oblivious to the obvious tense atmosphere around her. Climbing up the stairs to her apartment, she wondered how exactly she had gotten into this situation.

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Tsunade looked up from her piles of unfinished paperwork. She subtly hid the lottery ticket under the sheets knowing what her student would say if she caught sight of it. The girl looked terrible. With snarled hair, violet bags under her eyes and pale, pale skin, there was no way Sasuke and Naruto would leave her alive if she let her continue working.

'Oh honey why don't you sit down,' she said sweetly.

Sakura regarded her teacher suspiciously as she took a seat in front of the large cedar desk that had been replaced countless times due to Tsunade's numerous drunken rampages.

'Whaddya want Tsunade-sensei?' she asks.

'You see, Sakura,' she began, 'there is this glorious thing called life and you only get once chance at it. Now I've been trying to master the art of it for a while now and I have no intention of stopping. However there may be a slight glitch in the plan as Sasuke and Naruto return from their respective missions tomorrow and knowing them, the first thing they will do is meet up with you. And if they see you in your current state, the next thing they will do is come and murder me. So I'm giving you the day off. No discussions.'

Tsunade ended with a note of finality in her voice and turned her gaze to the paperwork studiously avoiding Sakura's accusing glare. She heard the sharp scrape of the chair against the linoleum and the door slamming before she allowed herself to relax. That girl was far too donkey-headed for her own good but she guessed there was no helping it as after all, she did learn from the best. Tsunade smiled smugly and continued to shade in the numbers of her lottery ticket.

Sakura smiled as she walked out of the Hokage's office. It had all been an act of course. She had been itching for a day off but if Tsunade had known she would have forced her to work doubly hard, that sadistic woman, she thinks fondly.

She grabbed her belongings from her office in the hospital before walking towards the bakery. She was dreaming of chocolate cake when she was rudely interrupted by a fat pig aka her best friend storming towards her.

'Sakura you have got to help me. All I ever wanted to do was go on a romantic date for once and Shikamaru disappears. We've been going out for a month now and the most remotely romantic thing we've done is when I tripped on my Manolos going down that stupid hill to Shika's cloudwatching spot and he caught me. And then he called me troublesome which totally ruined the moment and,'

Ino would have continued if Sakura had not turned around and walked away after muttering, 'Ok I'll see what I can do.'

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And so she found herself roaming the streets of Konoha. On her day off. When she could have been wrapped up in fantasies of Jace Wayland. And Sasuke still wouldn't agree to get a Shadowhunter tattoo. Life sucked.

After an hour of aimless wandering, Sakura bought herself a takoyaki and sat on a nearby bench as she ate.

She was contemplating the sorry state of her Mary Jane pumps

Why couldn't Ino have asked to go shopping?

when she caught sight of the object of her search.

'Oi you, yes you with the pineapple for hair,' she yelled.

Shikamaru turned to look at her with a slightly offended face.

'Score' she thought. Shikamaru was such an apathetic person that getting any sort of reaction from him was considered as a personal victory to her. However her sense of triumph was short-lived as he turned and began walking away.

She growled and throwing her rubbish in a nearby bin, followed him wondering to all the gods above, what she had done to deserve such a plight.

'So I heard you were avoiding Ino again,' she began conversationally.

'Troublesome.'

'Yeah it is isn't it? Especially when I have to ROAM THE STREETS OF KONOHA ON MY DAY OFF LOOKING FOR A CERTAIN JERK' she continued to rant but Shikamaru has done what he does best, tuned himself out.

He walked along with his back slouched, following the cobblestone path before cutting off and walking into the bushes.

Sakura stopped and looked at his back before dubiously staring down at her pumps. Sighing she took them off and held them in one hand as she followed the one who was apparently the love of her best friend's life.

She had to admit she couldn't see the attraction. He was hardly what you could call ugly but he certainly didn't have the looks of Sasuke or even Naruto. Sure he was a genius but this was Ino they were talking about, since when did she care for _brains_? Besides the guy could remain as frustratingly as vague as Sasuke when he wanted to and Ino was always so blunt and to the point and she hated any beating about the bush.

Sakura sighed again but brightened up as she saw daylight through the scrub. She sped up until she was walking beside Shikamaru and asked, 'So where is it that we're going?'

Shikamaru was saved from answering as the bush finally cleared and Sakura was able to see where they were.

She drew in a sharp breath and a muttered, 'wow.'

They stood on top of a hill from which the rolling expanse of the bright emerald green grass that seemed to glitter in the sunlight could clearly be seen. At the bottom of the hill was a clear stream that actually burbled. A bluejay chirped in the background and she was able to hear the drone of bees in the patch of wild daisies that seemed to grow everywhere. The sky was interspersed with drifting cotton-candy clouds that seem to have been artistically strewn across a canvas of blue.

It was a like scene out of a fairytale.

Shikamaru had already settled down, with his arms cushioning his head as he gazed up at the sky in his favourite pastime. Sakura gingerly touched the grass; it was so green she had to make sure it wasn't paint or something, before smoothing her dress and sitting down.

'How did you find this place?'

'With a lot of time.'

Ah the vague monster strikes again. Really there ought to be a vague police or something. It was just too cruel to send these creatures out into public to interact with the common people.

They sit in silence for a while, both lost in thought. Suddenly realisation dawns and she turns to him excitement lighting up her face, 'Hey, are you planning on bringing Ino here?'

'In all of Konoha, the stars seem the brightest from up here,' he says in lieu of an answer.

Sakura lies down beside him as she thinks about this startling new piece of information. So there really was some depth to this guy that she had obviously missed before. Perhaps Ino had been able to look past the façade he presented to the rest of the world and see this and that why she had determined him to be 'the one'. Suddenly Sakura felt ashamed for automatically assigning him to the title lazy bastard without putting in the effort to really getting to know him. She had worked with him for years but had never really seen past his role of strategist and lately as Ino's boyfriend who was always missing.

'I'm sorry,' she says.

And he understands.

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They lie in a comfortable silence as they watch the clouds drift by.

'Hey Shikamaru, why do you like watching clouds so much?,' she asks.

He lets the silence linger for a while and the buzz of the bees almost lulls Sakura to sleep before he answers.

'The clouds wander the streets of the sky in a procession yet they are free to do what they want and go where they want,' he draws a breath and continues, 'and when I see that, it heals me more than any medic could possibly do. Because it gives me peace.'

Sakura is taken aback. Today seems to be day full of surprises. First she finds out that Shikamaru has a thoughtful side and now it seems inside the strategist is a poet.

'You could make a living out of it if you keep up with the fancy phrases or at least get back into Ino's good books,' she joked.

He shrugged, not taking his eyes of the heavens.

Sakura had to admit she could kind of understand what he was saying. The sky with its infinite blue did instil a sense of calm and well-being in her…or that might just be the lack of sleep taking its toll on her, she thought as she finally relaxed.

Shikamaru smiled as the pink-haired medic finally closed her eyes and slipped into slumber.

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Hours later when Sakura woke, the sky had been infused with orange and purple and pink as the sun set on the horizon. She watched with wonder at the gorgeous landscape before she noticed Shikamaru sitting with his feet in the creek. She made her way down towards him, carefully picking her way through the patches of wildflowers.

'So shall I say you're picking her up at seven?'

He nods in the affirmative and she turns back to the city.

'Bye Maru.'

'See ya around Saki.'

And as Sakura trudges back wondering where _that_ had come from, Shikamaru closes his eyes and dreams of two children, one with short pink hair and the other with black hair tied in a ponytail, as they lie on the grass, cloud watching.

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**Yeaa so I hope you all get that they used to childhood friends and all…**

**If you liked this check out Dreaming of Reality =)  
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